My no-fly trip to Sicily with mountains, seaside towns and a train on a ferry

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About nine years ago, I decided not to travel by plane again unless I absolutely had to, and I haven’t taken a flight since. I was motivated by climate consciousness, but I also love travelling by train, so when my sister invited our family to spend Christmas in Sicily, where she lives with her husband and son, I started thinking about a no-fly route to the Italian island.

I knew about the Strait of Messina crossing, where a train drives onto a ferry, and I spotted a discount on Interrail tickets, so I bought a £200 pass which allowed five days of travel within 30 days. Not all rail networks are part of the Interrail system and some journeys require pre-booked seats, so I spent another £200 on additional tickets and reservations, but the Interrail Rail Planner app made route planning relatively easy.

I set off from Leicester at about 7am on a Saturday morning in late December, taking a train to London before jumping on the 11am Eurostar to Paris Gare du Nord. I took the metro over to Gare du Lyon and started the first of my Interrail travel days with the train to Turin.

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I arrived at Porta Susa station about five and a half hours later and walked through a lovely upscale area of the city to Porta Nuova, from which my next train departed. I had a 90-minute layover and the walk was only 20 minutes, so had time to grab a delicious pizza for dinner on the way.

At 10pm, I boarded the 11-hour Intercity Notte sleeper train going south. The cabin was simple but clean with four berths, and each passenger was given bedding and a bottle of water. I’m six foot six, but I slept surprisingly well and was comfortable enough on my top bunk.

The next morning the views were incredible, with fields of fig and orange trees on one side and beaches and pastel-hued seaside towns on the other. When I arrived in Salerno, a coastal city about halfway down the ‘boot’ of Italy, the sun was shining, with not a cloud in the sky. I strolled among the bobbing fishing boats in the marina framed by the Alburni mountains in the distance.

Salerno and its port, against the backdrop of the Alburni mountains (Photo: Siegfried Schnepf/Getty/iStockphoto)
Salerno and its port, against the backdrop of the Alburni mountains (Photo: Siegfried Schnepf/Getty/iStockphoto)

From Salerno, the five-hour train took me all the way to Sicily, including the Strait of Messina crossing – the only place in Europe where passenger trains still board a ferry. The service started in 1899, a time when train-on-ferry routes were popular across Europe; other crossings included Dover to Dunkirk and Germany to Sweden across the Baltic Sea. But from the 1970s onwards, most were replaced by bridges or tunnels. And it’s possible the Strait of Messina ferry will suffer the same fate, as construction is due to begin this year on a suspension bridge that will carry cars and trains across the strait.

At Villa San Giovanni docks, the train was split in two so the carriages could – with the help of a fleet of operatives – roll onto tracks on the ferry’s lower deck. The other passengers and I disembarked the train and went up to sit in the lounge, where I took a lunch of arancino (a deep-fried risotto ball) and macchiato from the onboard café to a seat by the window. I looked out towards the mountains of Sicily stretching into the distance as we made the calm, half-hour crossing.

On land, the carriages were reconnected and within a few minutes we were at Messina station, the final stop on this route. From here, I hopped on a train to Siracusa, where I was picked up by my sister, who drove me to her home near Pozzallo, in southern Sicily. I arrived roughly 36 hours after setting off.

The ferry connecting Sicily with the Italian mainland has tracks for the train to be loaded on (Photo: Roberto Lo Savio/Getty/iStockphoto)
The ferry connecting Sicily with the Italian mainland has tracks for the train to be loaded on (Photo: Roberto Lo Savio/Getty/iStockphoto)

I spent a wonderful two weeks with my family, taking windswept beach walks and sunny bike rides along the coast. We visited Ispica for the Presepe Vivente, or living nativity. Set in the city’s historic caves, this Christmas tradition features residents in traditional clothing demonstrating local crafts and cooking, and we had the chance to try some warm, freshly made ricotta and red wine.

While the outbound journey went without a hitch, the same can’t be said for the return. This time, I took a different route, starting with the Strait of Messina crossing but then going all the way to Rome on a sleeper train. I was supposed to arrive in the Italian capital at 7am, but for reasons I never got to the bottom of, we didn’t get there until 11am, resulting in a mad dash to find a train to Milan for my onward connection to Basel, Switzerland.

In Milan, the Swiss train company staff were very kind and spoke perfect English. They told me there weren’t any seats available but that I could sit on the floor. Even from my less than luxurious vantage point, the views of the Swiss Alps and the crystal blue lakes as we wound through the valleys were stunning.

The view from the train at Thun, on the route between Milan and Basel (Photo: Chisanu Liengpan/PixHound/Getty)
The view from the train at Thun, on the route between Milan and Basel (Photo: Chisanu Liengpan/PixHound/Getty)

I realised I wasn’t going to make my scheduled Eurostar that evening, so on the train from Basel to Strasbourg, I booked a £26 bed in a hostel close to Paris Gare du Nord. I managed to rebook onto the first Eurostar the next morning for £15, so I was back in Leicester by 10.30am, only four hours later than intended.

Despite the delays and stress on the way back, I would happily go to Sicily by train again. In fact, I’m planning on making this trip an annual tradition, but varying my route each year to include more culinary pit stops. Next time, I’d love to spend a day in Rome sniffing out the best cacio e pepe or carbonara.

As told to Katie Wright.

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